This week on Twitter, a trending hashtag has been #ChangeTheWorldIn5Words. Tweeters share their five-word ideas and add the hashtag to their tweets. Some answers…
The post How would you #ChangeTheLawIn5Words? appeared on…

“I do not want to work with you to select the words, develop the structure of a paragraph—or document—for that matter. What I want is a thoughtful piece where—if I choose—I can add insight or new thinking. Do not…

Innovate

By Julie FlemingThursday’s webinar Build a Rock Solid Book of Business has been postponed due to a family member’s hospitalization. I’ll send information on the new date as soon as it’s set. (And if you missed the…

By Julie FlemingDo you ever wonder why the plan that a colleague used to land business just doesn’t seem to work for you? Are you tired of facing a choice between doing billable work (so you have receivables today) and doing business…

Internet For Lawyers

Covers free and low-cost investigative and background research resources on the Internet, as well as search engine search tips with a focus on Google and its features, functions and productivity tools.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs offers the Nationwide Gravesite Locator a searchable database of the burial locations of "veterans and their family members in VA National Cemeteries, state veterans cemeteries, various other military…

iPad 4 Lawyers

I am a firm believer that there can never be too many practice management resources for solo lawyers. As the name implies, solo lawyers don't have the colleagues to help them when it comes to technology, marketing, finance, and…

It seems a lot of people out there hoard their electronics. That's according to the annual Mobile Mountain Survey conducted on behalf of SellCell.com. According to the survey, Americans are holding onto a staggering $47 Billion in old…

When I talk to lawyers about using the iPad in their practice, I invariably get around to telling them that for some reason, app developers have really concentrated on making apps for litigators more than for any other type of legal practice.…

Robert Sciglimpaglia's legal career came to an unexpected crossroads in May 2006. He could either continue practicing workers' compensation law full time, or accept a 13-day contract to perform as an extra in the Disney movie "Enchanted,"…

JD Nation

We’re having a vet behaviorist come to our house. Yep. We’re those people. But we used to be waaaaaaay further out on the ridiculous end of the spectrum before we had a baby. We flew our (then only) dog to Vegas to be the flower…

I remember standing outside an Ann Taylor display window as a tween and telling my mom, “I’m going to dress like that when I grow up. I’ll be a lawyer and make enough money to buy whatever clothes I want. And whatever…

Oh, don’t act so shocked. You know it’s true. Even if you’re an exceptionally sensitive lawyer, you’re still stuck dealing with other lawyers. And you’re not exactly a fan of being cut off, condescended to and…

Most lawyers are careful to protect client confidences, but that is becoming more and more difficult to do. These days lawyers, especially those practicing alone or in small firms, often discuss their cases with their peers in other firms.

In a recent article in The Legal Intelligencer, Melanie Klinghoffer and Greg Richter made the case that “project-based” lawyers make a lot of sense for “[m]anaging partners, practice group leaders and others with case management…

The Articulate Attorney just received a 5-star review and we’re celebrating! Foreword Reviews calls the book “a valuable tool for anyone who wants to improve their public speaking skills.” The review continues,…

By Marsha Hunter Microsoft’s rollout of Skype for Business has been a hot topic in technology circles this year. Last week, they launched a preview of the new technology available to its Office 365 enterprise customers. “With…

You have an important public speaking engagement in 48 hours. Just thinking about it sets your heart racing. There doesn’t seem to be enough time to craft and polish your ideas, but you calm your nerves by working on your…

JOTWELL - The Journal of Things We Like (Lots)

Edited by University of Miami School of Law Professor Michael Froomkin, The Journal of Things We Like (Lots)–JOTWELL–invites law professors to join us in filling a telling gap in legal scholarship by creating a space where legal academics will go to identify, celebrate, and discuss the best new legal scholarship.

Untangling the Relationship between Rights, Federal Power, and Inequality: The Legal Legacy of Reconstruction

Laura Edwards, A Legal History of the Civil War and Reconstruction: A Nation of Rights (2015).Karen Tani“Black lives matter.” When spoken in law schools, these words have had a particular subtext. They expressed outrage at…

KM Space

Compliance Building is a free resource I publish for me, and share with you, to help the compliance profession. It will still be free, but I’m asking for money. I should point out that the money is not for me; It’s for charity.…

I home your home computer works better than this one and that you don;t have to use Fortran, no matter easy it may be to use. Perhaps this is a good example of why past performance is not an indication of future results. I think this…

I hope you have a happy and joyous holiday season. Whether it be Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Festivus, Feast of Winter Veil, Saturnalia, or New Year’s Eve, I hope you get to spend some extra time with friends and family. I will…

Knowledgeline

When you talk to hard-core project managers, one of the tell-tale signs of their 'school' of LPM is what language they use to describe their process and one of the hardest things for some PM's to acquiesce to is the short-comings of their…

A 4 year college degree, plus 2-3 years of work experience and class work (4,500 hours to be exact), on-going education needed to maintain your standing, and passing a brutal 4 hour - 200 question entrance exam (that has created a cottage…

It was quite a wake up call to attend a conference outside of legal and I was certainly woken up on several occasions at the Premier 100 conference put on by Computerworld Magazine. When you're in the same room with companies that have an IT…

Law and Legal Research

PURSUANT TO CALIFORNIA PENAL CODE SECTION 490.6; LINE JUMPING, SAVING SPACE IN LINE FOR OTHERS, PROFANITY OR USE OF LASER PENS IS PROHIBITED. LASER PENS WILL BE PERMANENTLY CONFISCADED [sic]. VIOLATORS WILL BE REMOVED FROM THE PARK. During a…

California has a law that targets political memorabilia. Found at Civil Code Section 1739, this law regulates the sale, advertisement for sale, and offer for sale of “any political item which is purported to be an original political…

When comparison shopping at the supermarket, trying to find the best bargain could be challenging because manufacturers produce canned, bottled and packaged goods in odd quantities. If we are comparing between a 5 lb. and 10 lb. bag of flour,…

Bearing in mind the benefits of more reproducible research regarding legal management, a piece in the Economist, July 25, 2015 at page 8, makes a good point. That short article explains how pharmaceutical companies have not been publishing…

Surveyors sometimes weight their data to make the findings more representative of some other set of information. This point comes through in an article in the New York Times, July 23, 2015 at 83 regarding political polls. Pollsters may get…

A precept of reproducible research, such as survey results that allow readers to understand the methodology and credibility of the findings, is to make generous use of “N = some number”. That conventional shorthand for “how…

A potpourri of posts to present:First, today, firms increasingly understand and feel the market pull to focus specifically on client success -- not just delivering the services they've been engaged to perform, but delivering outcomes (and…

Ex-Wilson Sonsini Staffer Seeks To Avoid Jail Over Trades -- "A former Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC information technology employee told a New York federal judge Wednesday he should not be sentenced to jail for trading on inside…

Bloomberg BNA has a fascinating update and analysis: "Dentons’ Disqualification and Legal Advertising: Stir But Don’t Shake" --"The Swiss verein enables member firms operating under the Dentons brand to maintain their own finances…

This is the fourth in a series about the five emerging faces of the legal industry. In the new economy, lawyers don’t just compete against other lawyers for a share of the legal services market, they also compete against non lawyers.…

This is the fourth in a series of posts about the New Faces of the Law Firm Competitive Landscape. The next emerging face of the legal industry is the efficient law firm. These are firms that recognize that even the most complex legal matters…

This is the third in a series of posts about the New Faces of the Law Firm Competitive Landscape While there is no evidence to suggest that bigger is better, that hasn’t stopped a new breed of Mega Global Firms from emerging onto the…

Law in Moldova

For a long period of time ships flying the Moldovan flag were seen as something exceptional. The country was landlocked, and the task of developing the area of maritime law was not a priority. However, certain agreements reached with Ukraine,…

The law determines the order of entry and stay of foreigners in the territory of the Republic of Moldova, general conditions for issuing residence permits and visas for the entry to Moldova. This Law shall become effective from 24 December…

We published an entry on “That Old Crying Feeling” in 2011 that won the BlawgWorld Pick of the Week, and generated a lot of hits and discussion about displaying emotions in the office. We noted, among other things, that Michael…

The Center for the Study of the Legal Profession at Georgetown University Law Center and TAGLaw recently published a survey showing the value of their culture to the growth strategies of mid-sized law firms. First, these high-culture…

The Law Office of Marcia Binder Ibrahim, LLC, located in Montgomery County, PA, has a job opening for an associate attorney with at least five years of criminal and/or immigration experience. The firm handles criminal and family matters, and…

Gawthrop Greenwood, PC is a mid-size 100+ year old law firm headquartered in West Chester, PA. They have a job opening / opportunity for a full-time experienced Estate Paralegal for their Wilmington, DE office. The desired…

The law firm of Flaster/Greenberg PC has a job opening / opportunity for a Midlevel Associate in Family Law / Commercial Litigation to work out of their Cherry Hill office, with occasional travel to their Philadelphia office.…

Our Digital Edge podcast this month is titled "How Lawyers Can Do More in Less Time" and features Allison Shields. Allison is co-author, with Daniel J Siegel, of the book from the ABA How to Do More in Less Time:...

Yes, I know we all call it something else other than "pocket dialing," but congratulations to the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for using a more polite term. Huff vs Spaw (Download in PDF) was issued this week. I...

One of my son's friends has an Amazon Echo and he has it doing cool tricks, so my son mentioned that he would love to have one. We responded in typical parent fashion, noting that he could see about getting...

Law School: Success & Careers

Advice, tips and musings regarding law school and life thereafter from a former trial lawyer (and guest bloggers), now Director of Public Service Programs at the North Carolina Central University School of Law in Durham, NC.

&quot;Clear the Mechanism&quot; -- Concentration is the Key to Study Succe

Are Yankee fans truly this obnoxious? Truly you, jest! :-) In my Twitter profile, I note that I like to draw parallels between life and baseball. I thought that I would include a scene from an old Kevin Costner movie ("For the Love of…

As I've indicated on many occasions here, and on Twitter, I am a big proponent of students participating in both substantive and social activities in a local bar association. Cliche though it may be. . "if you want to fish, go where the…

The Lonliness of the Long Distance Solo Practitioner: Staying &quot;Connected&quot;

Part II of the "long distance runner" series The first of the "Long Distance Runner" blog articles The Loneliness of the Long Distance Law Student: Do Study Groups Work Or Not - Your Call was a discussion regarding whether law students…

As a sponsor for Run for Justice facilitated by Atlanta Legal Aid Society, LawSpaceMatch was a part of the 1,200 participants raising $25,000 for the general operating fund of the Atlanta Legal Aid Society. The run was on November 10, 2012,…

Law21

And thus, at last, I fulfill a long-held goal of using an album title from my favourite band in a blog post. You can always tell when a blog is nearing the end of its natural life: the author starts making apologies for not having…

Malcolm Mercer, who’s been a driving force in the debate around legal service regulation changes in Canada, wrote a terrific post at Slaw titled “A Different Take on ABS – Proponents and Opponents Both Miss the…

I recently had the opportunity to speak with John Kain, managing partner of Kain C + C Lawyers in Adelaide, Australia. John’s company (it’s an incorporated legal practice, not a firm), which specializes in high-end corporate,…

LawBiz Blog

By a 6-3 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court validated the health insurance concept and Congressional intent to cover millions of people not previously covered. It’s fascinating, if not tragic, how politics continues to rule court decisions…

Today’s interview is with Brett Burney, Technology Consultant and Chair of the 2015 ABA Chicago TechShow from April 16-18.Rule 1.1 of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct has been modified to include familiarity Brian Powers is CEO…

LawBiz Blog - Audio Podcasts

Toby Brown, a good friend and previous speaker here at LawBiz® Podcast, is a former director of the Utah State Bar and currently the Director of Strategic Pricing & Analytics for Akin Gump, a top 50 AmLaw law firm.
Toby is at the…

How confident are you that your client trust account is state bar compliant? Do you have monthly financials to review that make sense to you? Are all your billable time and advanced client costs being captured? Annette Fadness provides…

Gary Kinder is the Founder and Creator of WordRake Editing Software. He is also a lawyer and a New York Times bestselling author who has taught over 1,000 writing programs at the most prestigious law firms in the US. He has dedicated his…

Counsel On Call’s Discovery Symposium 7.0 was recently held in Nashville, Tenn. The annual two-day event was a good balance of relevant large data topics, fun networking between in-house attorney peers, and open dialogue on the issues…

It’s hard to believe that our annual Discovery Symposium is here already. This is now our sixth year of hosting a select group of clients and Fortune 500 legal departments in Nashville for two days of programming from their in-house…

This guest post is by Eric Griffin, a director at Counsel On Call. Eric works closely with clients to design innovative and cost-effective legal solutions in a variety of verticals and practice areas.
Just over a week ago, Ryan McLead of…

"A Master Mind is the harmonious alliance of two or more minds that create a friendly environment to gather, classify and organize new information for fast and effective implementation." ~ Napoleon Hill Do you want to be an influential…

InsideCounsel offers some tips for those interested in bringing eDiscovery in-house while avoiding pitfalls, including some comments from yours truly. Check out "Inside Job" in InsideCounsel's November issue, published in the monthly…

LinkedIn. Facebook. Twitter. Blogs. Bob Ambrogi, always on the forefront of web technologies and their impact, recently published two helpful "Top 10" articles - one each for attorneys and experts, with some great tips for those…

From the many presentations and discussions at the AHIMA sponsored Legal EHR Summit in Chicago, it's clear that healthcare records and records management in the U.S. are changing. (In case you were wondering, "EHR" = Electronic Health…

InsideCounsel offers some tips for those interested in bringing eDiscovery in-house while avoiding pitfalls, including some comments from yours truly. Check out "Inside Job" in InsideCounsel's November issue, published in the monthly…

LinkedIn. Facebook. Twitter. Blogs. Bob Ambrogi, always on the forefront of web technologies and their impact, recently published two helpful "Top 10" articles - one each for attorneys and experts, with some great tips for those navigating…

From the many presentations and discussions at the AHIMA sponsored Legal EHR Summit in Chicago, it's clear that healthcare records and records management in the U.S. are changing. (In case you were wondering, "EHR" = Electronic Health…

Lawyer Hatton

Yesterday was the most interesting day yet of the Anthony trial. The state continues to build on the story that they told during their opening statement by presenting witness testimony regarding Ms. Anthony's activities while her daughter…

Day two of the Anthony trial in Florida was uneventful. The state is presenting its case exactly as they laid it out in the opening statement. They began by focusing on showing the jury how Ms. Anthony went about living her life and seemed…

While working today, I set up a feed of the Anthony trial in Florida on my monitor so I could watch it. Today was opening statements. It is a fascinating case. The defense has a very interesting theory of the case and I am going to enjoy…

One of our biggest problems with law is not that we lack information – it is that we have far too much of it. Take, for example, PACER. PACER is an unwieldy behemoth that exists, seemingly, to frustrate lawyers immensely with its…

Sure, we don’t use quills or mimeographs anymore, but there is a pretty good chance you still have a fax machine taking up space in your office.6 Legal Technologies That Should Be Obsolete was originally published on Lawyerist.

iOS apps for lawyers abound, whether for case management, billing, or trial preparation. This page has every legal app for iOS that we could find.Every Legal App for iPhone and iPad was originally published on Lawyerist.

Have you met Alexa? She is the voice of Amazon Echo, Amazon.com’s new artificially-intelligent device that listens to you and answers your questions. And with the latest software upgrade, it (she?) has entered the home automation…

ILTA’s SharePoint Symposium 2014 is set for June 10th – 11th near Chicago

ILTA’s SharePoint Symposium 2014, set for June 10th- 11th near Chicago, is designed to bring together professionals working with SharePoint in their firms or law departments. The format of the two-day event includes a SharePoint…

Leadership for Lawyers

A few interesting notes: The ACC GC Survey confirms that in-house legal departments continue to expand internally. 83% hired new lawyers when they needed staff. 64% created new positions last year. One GC I met last year said it is...

If you missed reading Bruce MacEwen's posts about the post-recession legal economy, you can either scroll through his blog or read it as an e-book (which is what I did, so I could read it on a plane on the...

Guest post by Scott Morgan Going through a divorce can be a very traumatic experience. You feel like your world is collapsing, so it is hard to think clearly. It is important that you do not lose your health insurance coverage. You never know…

I’ve written about Ruby Receptionist quite a bit. They handle the overflow calls for my law firm. Some people might say that voicemail is good enough for their business. But here’s why I pay Ruby instead of letting calls go to voicemail:…

Richmond lawyer Horace Hunter is fighting the Virginia State Bar on the issue of website disclaimers. Unfortunately, I’ll bet he’s going to lose. (Thanks to Carolyn Elefant for pointing the story out!) According to a Washington Post…

Adina Hemsley-Bronstein, Immigration Case Coordinator, Lawyer Referral and Information Service July 30, 2015, marked the one-year anniversary of the expedited dockets in San Francisco Immigrant Court. For the last year,...

We at times receive inquiries from small firms, sometimes very small firms with 1-3 attorneys, regarding legal technology and litigation support extranets.From these types of firms, the interest is generally a bit different from that of large…

Today marks the arrival date of the new Windows 10 operating system, a welcomed update for many. The new OS is far more familiar and intuitive than its predecessor, giving users back the familiar start menu, taskbar and desktop they've been…

So you’ve been working with the same Managed Service Provider for years now and after taking a look at your year-to-date expenditures, you find yourself wondering if you’re really getting what you’re paying for. But is it…

Worldox GX4 is out and a few people have been blogging about it. But what makes it worth upgrading? Sometimes there just isn’t enough stuff to make the move worth it. Well, this is not one of those times. Worldox GX4 is loaded with new…

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York has recently affirmed the dismissal of a legal malpractice claim. In Rodriguez v Jacoby & Meyers, LLP, a client was injured in a rear-end car accident and subsequently retained…

The Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a legal malpractice suit, on the basis that the clients had not provided sufficient evidence to support their claims. In Roseland v. Wentzell, a couple owned several parcels of…

The Supreme Court of Nebraska has vacated a trial court’s order granting a client’s motion for a new trial, and affirmed a jury verdict in favor an attorney. In Balames v. Ginn, a client filed a legal malpractice claim…

The Illinois Review Board has recommended a six-month suspension Eva and Andrew Janas consulted with Respondent on October 21, 2010 because Andrew was experiencing business difficulties. They discussed the possibility of obtaining a divorce…

The Mississippi Supreme Court has held that a person found not incompetent to stand trial on charges that he had murdered his mother is not necessarily precluded from recovery by the Slayer Statute. Based upon this Court’s holding that…

The Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board has recommended a suspension of a year and a day with six months stayed and probation of an attorney who, among other things, accused a judge of misconduct This case highlights the unfavorable…

This is a new article by Professor Robert Kuehn called Pricing Clinical Legal Education challenging the assumption that expanding clinical training opportunities for law students costs too much. It is available at 92 Denv. U. L. Rev. 1 (2014)…

Lots of people are afraid of speaking in public. And lots more have no idea how to handle a media interview. There is hope. From Cision, here is a helpful infograph with sound advice on conducting yourself before, during, and...

Roughly $458 million was invested into legal startups in the last year by investors. This is a remarkable increase from the $66 million invested in 2012. And 2014 began with a strong January seeing almost $12 million done in four deals.…

HEALTHFUNDR TAPS HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY TO FUND HEALTHCARE STARTUPSHealthcare is hot. With a massive aging population, the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, and a growing focus on health data, healthcare is a market of great interest,…

Lawyers and law firms are not taking full advantage of one
of the most powerful tools they have over other lawyers and new legal services
entrants – the attorney-client relationship.
Nobody in the commercial markets enjoys such a…

Legal Underground

"Four Trees," by Egon Schiele "The picture must radiate light," Schiele said. I've noted that quote on this blog before, in another post about Schiele. And that concludes today's gratuitous lesson in art history. Class dismissed, you're very…

Three Incredibly Useful Tips to Make You a Much Better Lawyer (Illustrated)

Like many professionals, lawyers take pride in their ability to perform at the highest level of their professional capabilities. But even when they’ve reached this peak, the best lawyers never stop learning. That's why they are…

Imagine my surprise when, in the course of doing some research for a client this morning, I went to highlight some text and saw a new option: Curious, I clicked on the link and was prompted to register for the Thomson Reuters Legal Community.…

Don’t Omit Material Facts: A Legal Writing Lesson Brought to you by the New York Health Insurance Marketplace

The Problem Since I’m a New York solo practitioner, I shop for health insurance on the New York health insurance marketplace website at www.nystateofhealth.ny.gov. Based on a number of news reports (including this one in the New…

I started writing this article the other day for an attorney law blog and realized how silly it sounded. I put in all of the work and then realized that probably everyone knows that sipping on that Red Bull and Vodka isn’t any good…

A court appointed ad litem (often referred to as guardian ad litem in Raleigh) refers to a court-appointed advocate for children involved in court proceedings. These guardian ad litem volunteers represent the best interests of the child…

You’ve probably seen the shocking videos of de-beaked chickens shoved thirty to a cage at a factory farm, or rats running rampant at a food processing plant. Such things are upsetting to see- but as a member of the public, you…

ATLANTA, GA and DENVER, CO--Oct 16, 2014) - DTI, the largest privately held legal process outsourcing (LPO) company in the U.S. providing eDiscovery, managed services and litigation support, today announced the acquisition of…

The Wall Street Journal reported on October 7 that Microsoft has signed a letter of intent to acquire an Israeli text-analysis vendor, Equivio.The Journal said Microsoft may pay $200 million for the startup.Equivio has been working with…

Austin, Texas -- October 07, 2014 Advanced Discovery, a leading provider of electronic discovery services and software for law firms and corporations worldwide, today announced that it has acquired Responsive Data Solutions (RDS), based in…

LLRX.com

Book-starved Utah boy begs postman for junk mail to read: How to respond?

David Rothman shares a recent story about a boy whose quest to read in spite of even minimal resources was captured and shared around the world, resulting in a flood of free books, thanks to the mail carrier who took the time to listen, and…

Ken Strutin argues that cut-and-paste is a laudable method for reducing transcription errors in copying citations and quotations. However, he identifies that a problem arises when it is used to lift verbatim sections of a party's arguments…

Many librarians have a set of research guides that they are responsible for keeping up to date, but finding time to devote to this important task can be extremely difficult. As libraries migrate to LibGuides 2.0, many are using this…